Favorite calisthenic workouts?

[rframe]

Looking for general fitness, or "conditioning" workout ideas, that are not dependent on equipment (flex bands and pull up bars are OK).

During the summer I bike to work a lot but over the winter I've gotten a bit flabby.

I like to run 3-5 miles when I can but would like some more calisthenic type workouts I can do indoors when running isn't practical, and that help build strength and flexibility. I've considered P90X but I typically dont have 1 hour+ to workout at a time so I'm not sure how well it'd work if I'm slicing and dicing their pre-planned workouts.

Do you have any "canned" workouts you really enjoy?

 

[Edgar]

Hey,

If you've thought about P90x, you should try P90X+ which is the extension to P90x. Each workout is about 40 minutes +20mins if you're doing abs/core that day.

The great thing about P90x is that it's usually broken into several sections and I have discovered that the second half of the exercises are the same as the first half but are done modified.

But if that's still not an option, I break them down like so...

Day 1: Upper body: Push ups, pull ups, and chair dibs.
Day 2: Lower body: Squats, burpees, and kettlebell/dumbbell swings.

Take one day break and repeat. Total reps and sets are up to you. For me, I like to keep them even and do 10/15/or 20 reps of 3 sets.

With exception to the pull bar and kettlebell, everything can be done in a small space.

 

[Jason Striker II]

5 minutes on the rope, 2 sets

50 lying twists/50 crunches superset

25 pushups, 4 sets

shrugs then curls with dumbbells, 3 sets

hand grips 100 reps

 

[Noah_Legel]

I don't have any "favorite" calisthenic workouts because I HATE exercise that isn't direct martial arts practice--I know, I know, that's terrible and I should suck it up . That said, when I want a quick workout I will usually do something like this:

Warm up with shadowboxing
20 push-ups
50 sit-ups with twists in the "up" position
20 push-ups
50 crunches held in the "up" position for two seconds, each
50 punches while standing in a low horse stance
50 front kicks
Sometimes I will also run kata with 15lb weights in each hand

 

[Gemini]

Do you have any "canned" workouts you really enjoy?

If you like to ride, you might want to consider an indoor trainer. It takes no time to set up your road bike, doesn't cost much and you get a great work out in under an hour. I also have a "canned" routine that only takes about 12 minutes a day, but it does involve a Total Gym. The reason it goes so quickly is because even though it's done in repetitions, the normal rest intervals are eliminated by targeting specific but different muscle groups. In other words, one muscle group gets to rest time is while you're working another.

I know these involve equipment, which you specified as wanting to avoid, but I know very few people that continue religiously with calisthenics. Reason being, they're boring. It helps when you actually enjoy the workout.

 

[Bill Mattocks]

Jumprope. Elliptical machine. Lather, rinse, repeat. That's all. Past a certain point, it's just religion.

 

[rframe]

Thanks for the ideas everyone.

I actually have owned a mag trainer for my bikes for several years but I cannot really get into biking inside. I've even tried the Spinervals videos. Too much like running on a treadmill for me I guess... just cannot stay motivated to do it.

Jump rope is good idea I've never really tried, I'll have to pick one up.

The other things I'm currently doing are usually a random selection from the following, but I usually dont give it a lot of thought or balance.

Push-Ups, either on fists or with a clap
Flat crunches, both straight and cross over
Legs vertical crunches, both straight and cross over
Pull-Ups (palms out)
Chin-Ups (palms in)
Inversion boot sit ups
Burpees
Straight leg front kicks
Straight leg side kicks
Resistance band punches
Resistance band lat pull downs

And then I also do some heavy bag work

In addition to the jump rope idea given above, I've thought about adding kettlebell, not sure quite how to work that in though, need to look into it a bit.